Miles Jay
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company
SMUGGLER
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position
Director
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website
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when
Wednesday 7 October 14:55
15:40
Miles Jay is a Canadian filmmaker based in New York. A three-time DGA Award nominee, his work spans commercials, music videos, and narrative film. His Squarespace commercial starring John Malkovich won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial. His music videos for Jay-Zand Leon Bridges have earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Music Video, and won Best Music Video at SXSW and the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. His short film The Statistical Analysis of Your Failing Relationship received the Special Jury Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival.
He is currently in pre-production on his first narrative feature, inspired by his cousin’s decade-long retreat into the wilderness to reject conventional society and elope with a woman more than twice his age.
2026 Speakersspeaking at
For ChatGPT’s first large-scale brand campaign, OpenAI, Isle of Any and SMUGGLER director Miles Jay took an unexpectedly human approach. Shot on 35mm (not AI!) using custom lenses and built around precisely choreographed single takes, the series of tiny films depended on the smallest details working together: casting, micro-performances, camera movement, music and timing.
At a moment when AI can generate almost anything, this is a case study about a very different creative challenge: using every tool available to make technology feel less technological — and more human.